PostWar
by rubyremembrance
Summary: Sometimes you just have to look at the situation from the other person's side to really see what they want. Lithuania learned that the hard way. Rated T just to be safe, for mentions of violence and other reasons mentioned inside.


**A/N: Oh my, it's been a while, hasn't it? Anyways, I'm back with a little Hetalia oneshot here! Funny story: I reread that Athena/Percy oneshot that I published a while ago and I _winced_. I'm not gonna delete it though, no. Some people liked it, I guess.. So. Moving on.**

**Synopsis: Sometimes you just have to look at the situation from the other person's side to really see what they want. Lithuania learned that the hard way.**

**Warning: One swear word. Just one. Also, mentions of war, homosexuality, implications of dastardly deeds (because I just didn't know how else to say that) and obvious signs of abuse. But that kinda comes with Russia. It's a package deal. Don't like/approve of it, don't read it.  
><strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not, nor will ever own Axis Powers: Hetalia or Hetalia: World Series because they are owned by the ever ingenious Hidekaz Himaruya. ..Unless I somehow come into possession of it. That'd be cool too. **

* * *

><p>The usually-bubbly blond stood with a cold demeanor. His body was bruised in multiple places and his arm was in a sling. His shoulder, cheek and forehead bled and his forest green military uniform was stained with blood and mud. It was ripped in multiple places so it could be used as bandages until he could get his hands on some real ones. His breathing was shaky and if looks could kill, the person he was facing would've been dead a long time ago.<p>

The target of his stony gaze was a certain green-eyed, brunette Lithuanian country. He was also bruised and bleeding, but not to the extent of the blond. He was sitting on the ground, leaning against a tree, which normally would make Poland scrunch his nose in disgust and declare that he was ruining his clothes. Right now, he just didn't care.

He shifted his weight, causing a cracking sound to come from the ground. He wasn't sure what cracked – his ankle, or something he stepped on. The brunette slowly turned his head to look at the blond, and his eyes lit up when he recognized who had come to see him. This didn't last long, as he quickly saw the expression that Poland wore.

"Po!" He gasped, sitting up straight.

"Don't," The reply was nearly instant. "Don't call me that." His voice was strangled and the full impact of his injuries was revealed through the pain.

There was a silence as Lithuania thought of a way to respond to the objection. It was different than the silences the duo had had in the past – rare as they might have been. Lithuania shifted nervously.

"Look, I get that you're mad-" Poland laughed harshly.

"Mad? No. I'm not mad." His words hurt Lithuania more than gunshots would. "I'm fucking furious." Lithuania was shocked. Poland rarely swore.

"Po…"

"You better have been about to finish that with 'land', Lithuania." He shook his head, all of his energy drained, the only thing powering him being his anger. "I don't get it, Lithuania. Why do you hate me?"

"I don't… I don't hate you, though." The blond shot him a skeptical look.

"Then why? Why would you be on _their_ side?" He spat out the words like they burned him. "I thought we were friends."

Anger bubbled inside of the brunette. He wasn't the only one in the wrong, and he intended to make that clear.

"Don't act like you're innocent, Poland! Sure, maybe in this war, I was the one who was wrong, but you've done your share of betrayal in the past too!"

The blond winced at the outburst. He hadn't been expecting it, but looking back, he thought that he probably should have. He smiled sadly at the thought of what the other was referring to, almost patronizing.

Lithuania, on the other hand, had expected the blond to do one of two things – yell back at him and storm away, or deny that it had ever happened. In neither was he expecting a smile. He vaguely wondered if the blond was sane. _Silly question, _he thought. _Of course he isn't._

"I see." The blond chuckled tiredly and shook his head minutely. "You still don't get it."

Lithuania narrowed his eyes. What was he talking about?

"I never meant to kill anybody. Especially not your people. To be honest, Lithuania, I love your people nearly as much as I love mine." He dropped his gaze to his hands, where he held a tiny silver object that the brunette couldn't make out.

"Like I would believe that," he scoffed. "If you did, you wouldn't have tried to take Vilnius."

A fire roared in Poland's eyes, and Lithuania recognized it as his fighting spirit. This was why he was the phoenix of Eastern Europe; because of his love for his people, his respect for his fellow nations and his determination to live for them.

"You are so _stupid_ sometimes."

"And this coming from the blond airhead." The brunette remarked bitterly, a little taken aback by the insult.

"No, honestly. All you can think about when this comes up is how I just wanted to take back Wilno." Poland's voice broke and he held back tears. "What if you're wrong?"

There was a silence as Lithuania just glared. _But why would I be wrong?_

"Because you are." The blond spoke softly. The brunette stayed silent, daring him to proceed.

"When I was locked in Russia's basement," he shuddered, not wanting to remember, but all-too-familiar with the horrid place, "sometimes he would come… visit me, and he would tell me about the… horrible, horrible things that your people and government were saying about mine and what they were doing to them." He paused to take a breath, as he was nearly in tears. "And I would ask myself why. Why would he do this? But the worst thing that I ever thought was, if I had only been there, during it, making sure that my people weren't hurting yours like I had asked them… would you still be on _their_ side?

"Then I realized that, if I had to ask myself that, I didn't know you as well as I had thought I did. Did I ever?" He sighed and smiled bitterly.

"You know, I figured it was revenge. I did. Which lead to another question – I did a lot of thinking during this. If you were willing to send my people to camps – or as I prefer to call it, the slaughterhouse – why didn't I see it before? Why did I ever love you?" His bitter smile was replaced with a pained look.

"You didn't love me. You never did." After another long silence, Lithuania spoke, but it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself.

"Yes I did. Which is why I said you didn't _get_ it. I thought…" He took a deep breath and clasped at the thing in his hands. "I thought that, since you had my heart, it was only fair if I took yours. I just went around it in the wrong way."

Finally, the blond dropped his head completely, trying to hide the tears that were streaming freely down his cheeks.

"I'm over a thousand years old." His voice was shaky, even through his attempts to keep it steady. "Am I allowed to look back on my life and regret everything I've done now?" He tossed the thing that he'd been holding at the brunette's feet, and waited until he picked it up to turn his back and limp away. (It had definitely been his ankle that had cracked.)

The Lithuanian leaned forward and grasped at the small object once the blond was out of sight, and picked it up. It was a ring, just big enough to fit on his pinky finger. The symbol on it was what hit his heart the most.

It was their commonwealth's coat of arms.

* * *

><p><strong>I, uh, intended this to be post WWII, just after Poland was released from Germany and Russia (not that it lasted long; he ended up in the Soviet Union shortly after.) If something doesn't fit, either let me know and if it's a big problem, I'll edit, otherwise.. Well, a big theme in history is that Poland is always screwed over, so it could be a make believe war. No big. _<strong>

**Also, Wilno = Vilnius, just the Polish word for it. Just in case I confused anyone.  
><strong>

**Thanks for reading, and I'd say "hope you enjoyed", but it's not a very happy story, so.  
><strong>


End file.
